For the first time ever, Pragathi Bhavan, the residence-cum-camp office of the chief minister of Telangana is now open to the public. New Chief Minister Revanth Reddy also renamed the Pragati Bhavan as 'Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan', and held a 'Praja Darbar'at 10 AM on December 8, addressing concerns of the people who queued up to meet him.
Minutes after Revanth Reddy took oath as the chief minister of Telangana, the barricades and iron fence around Pragati Bhavan, the chief minister's camp office-cum-official residence, were being dismantled. The Pragathi Bhavan will henceforth be accessible to all, he said.
This was one of the key promises made by Congress in its election manifesto. The party promised to resume the Praja Darbar that had been initiated by former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh (when Telangana was part of it) YS Rajasekhar Reddy during his tenure.
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Videos on social media on Friday showed people queuing up to meet the Chief Minister after Reddy asked the public to come to him for resolving their unresolved issues. Several student associations too like the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) arrived at the Pragathi Bhavan to submit their representations to Reddy.
When YS Rajasekhar Reddy was the chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh after 2004, he would urge the public to meet him at this residence and convey their grievances. However, the premises was heavily barricaded when Bharat Rashtra Samithi (then TRS) led Government came to power in 2014, which also restricted entry of the public.
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Addressing the gathering at the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, Reddy said state government will do justice to the families of those who sacrificed their life for the sake of Telangana statehood, as well as the students and unemployed youth. He also asserted that state's development would compete with the world and the government would function like "servants" to the people and not as rulers.
